What can I say about the first quarter of 2024, except that it’s over? That’s not true. Well, it’s true that the quarter is over, but there is plenty to say. The mid-Atlantic actually saw snow this year for a change. Of course, gone are the days of the office closing, so you can play a little in the snow and maybe write a little with a warm beverage in hand. With modern technology, as long as the power and internet are flowing, so should the work. Let’s look at my first quarter numbers anyway.

• Words written = 8,203
• Submissions = 16
• Rejections = 11
• Acceptances = 1
• Shortlists = 0
• Publications = 2
• Rewrites = 0
• Withdrawals = 0

As always, it’s a mixed bag but the opposite of my usual mixed bag. Normally, my submissions and rejections are well on track to reach 100 for the year and my number of words written is sad. For 1Q24, I wrote more than I have in any first quarter since 2019, but my submissions are about 10-15 less than normal. I suspected my submissions would fall after taking a lot of stories out of circulation last year to include in my first short story collection, We’re Here to Help… Ourselves: Short Tales of Time, Space, Aliens, and Paperwork. 

The number of words written was encouraging. I finished The Hitchhiker’s Guide series of books last year and wanted to write a humorous sci fi story in that vein. I also wanted that story to be on the long side to anchor and fill out my next short story collection, which will consist of funny and terrifying tales (though not necessarily both at the same time).  Those 8200 words all went to the resulting story. I’m pleased with the outcome, and I hope others find it funny. Now I must decide if this collection is long enough at 49650 words, or if I should write one more story to put the collection over 50k words. 

I did reach my goal of one acceptance for the quarter, which was published right away. I wrote about the acceptance of “Fair Winds Travel” here and what that story meant to me. My other story published during the quarter, “Grenada Lake,” had been accepted just over a year prior. I wrote about that saga here. (For those paying attention, it’s the same link.) I don’t have anything scheduled to be published this quarter, but maybe I’ll get lucky with an acceptance soon.  

My goals for 2Q24 pretty much relate to my second short story collection. I need to decide whether to include one more short story and then write it if I do. Then I need to start the process I followed last year. First, hire an editor. The one I used last year is willing to work with me again. Once the manuscript is edited, I’ll need to format it, likely purchasing another pre-designed format, and locate another interesting graphic to use as a section break. Then it’s figuring out the cover design and uploading the manuscript to KDP to start working on the formatting issues… because there are always formatting issues.

That was my reverse mixed bag quarter of writing, submitting, and publishing. How did your first three months of 2024 work out?